Penmaenbach climbing

Crag: Penmaenbach Quarry, Conwy
Routes: A55 Hole Arete (f5:led), Jefferson Slab (f6a:sec), Y Clip Aur (f6a:led), Prelude to a Pint (f6c:led), The Whole of the Law (f6c:sec), Kato (f5+:sec), Samoa (f6a:sec), Playboys (f6a+:sec), Hitachi Arete (f6a+:led)
The first glimpses of blue sky after hours of rain as we parked up at Sychnant Pass. But it was still cold, windy and damp as we walked into the newly developed 'last but one level' which I'd run out of time to visit on last Friday's visit to the same quarry. A lovely walk between Allt Fawr and Conwy Mountain, with the sea in front, which brought us out below a nice looking slab of compact dolerite. I led the obvious arete on the left of the slab to start us off: shivering in the cold wind, but happy that the drizzle was starting to die away, and the rock was relatively dry. It gave a nice climb: shuffling out to the arete at times, moving up small edges on the slab at others. The routes are all of a decent length and are good quality by the standards of UK sports climbing: better than the lower tier, a good venue in a great location. Jefferson Slab was a little more technical: delicate and thought-provoking moves, and probably a tad harder than the similarly graded Y Clip Aur to its right. This goes up on small holds to a series of huge quartz jugs then a crux move over a steepening. Nice climb, but a tad overgraded (in common with much of the rest of this crag). Hayley despatched all the routes with ease. After lunch in the welcome sunshine, I then misread my printed topo - I thought I was on the f6b line of the Big A55 arete. I was actually on the 6c line of The Whole of the Law. I backed off this, then led what I thought was a 5+, but was actually the f6c Prelude to a Pint. This was obviously a new addition and had very little traffic, very few ascents. It goes up an extremely dubious corner crack to a strenuous layback/jamming crack on sharp rock. A mantel gains a sloping ledge, which is hard and technical to leave: fingery moves on small sloping holds. By the time I'd moved above the ledge, it was obvious this wasn't 5+! But I was committed and quite enjoyed the more solid rock of the slabby upper wall. It was far harder, more sustained and more technical than it looked, and was basically at my upper leading limit. However, I managed it all cleanly and on sight. It was a little friable in places - indeed, there is a very dangerous loose flake just left of the line - but it should settle down with traffic. The route kept coming, small holds and intricate climbing, up to a final awkward steepening where I ran out of quick draws! A hard to clip screwgate sufficed for the final mantel. Hayley then did a superb job of following the line and removing the gear: a vague traverse so a tad intimidating. I then did the arete line. Again, a horrible lower section, but the arete itself gives excellent climbing. A hard move off the ledge gives access to a quite technical series of rockovers pushing up blindly to pinch holds on the arete itself and small positive face holds. Half a grade harder, though, so if the arete is 6c, 'Prelude' is probably 6b+. Again, harder and more strenuous than it looked: but I managed it cleanly, very satisfying. We then walked down to the lower tier, a long way below! I thought that Kato would make an ideal lead for Hayley, and so it did: pleasant and positive. The twin slab routes of Samoa and Playboys were short but neat (also a bit wet): delicate and technical moves, particularly the thin right-hand line up to the obvious 'boil'. We were running out of time, so I finished with a lead of Hitachi Arete, a nice 6a+ up the blunt central arete. Far better than it looks, with excellent balancey moves on flat holds. A big climb back through the quarries to the Sychnant Pass, then drove to the Collie for a shortened version of the usual run.